Now that surface water temperatures have finally managed to climb into the mid-70 degree range, the typical “Hot” early summer bite here on Lake Wisconsin has finally swung into high gear.
We would normally see a great crawler bite start in late May or early June but with the cold spring weather hanging around much longer than normal; our hot June bite took just a little longer to develop.
Debbie Frosch with her best ever sauger. (22-1/2 inches)
Year in & year out, my “go-to” set up at this time of the year has been slow trolling crawler rigs behind bottom bouncers. At times though, we will also drag jigs tipped with crawlers, especially when the winds are blowing strong enough to give us a good drift.
Trolling crank baits behind planer boards is also a very good option but that has been more miss than hit lately so we’ve pretty much been sticking with the first two methods.
Jim Sawyer holds up a fat & healthy 23″ walleye.
Slow trolling crawler rigs behind bottom bouncers: So what the heck does that mean anyway?
For me, it means I’m either using the technique originally know as the “Death Twirl” and now more commonly know as “Slow Death” or I’m running small smile blades from Mack’s Lures on a crawler harness. Both rigs are run behind bottom bouncers. If you prefer, you can run both these rigs behind 3-ways or pencil sinkers but here on Lake Wisconsin, I prefer bottom bouncers.
Mark Seidler with his 26″ walleye caught on a crawler rig.
Over the past week, we have not seen quite as many big fish but overall numbers of walleyes & saugers per trip have been excellent. We’ve caught as many as twenty-nine fish and as few as a dozen on an average 5 hour trip. It’s common right now to see anywhere from three to six walleyes or saugers in-between 20-24″ long with a shot at a bigger one always a possibility. We are also seeing plenty of short fish on each outing. Some anglers may not like seeing all those short fish but they are always a welcome site for me. With out them, the future of our fishery wouldn’t be very bright.
Justin Freitag with a bonus 21″ channel cat.
1st pic – Debbie Frosch’s first ever walleye. (16.5″)
2nd pic – Clarey Busse, 21″ walleye.
3rd pic – Clarey Busse, 20.5″ sauger.
4th pic – Mike Werner with a beautifully marked 20.5 incher.
5th pic – Brad Zernov, 21″ walleye.
6th pic – Victor Abbate, 20″ plus sauger.
7th pic – Tony Abbate, 21.5″ sauger.
8th pic – Victor Abbate’s fist ever walleye. (15.5″)
9th pic – Jim Sawyer, 22″ sauger.
10th pic – Jim Sawyer, 21.5″ sauger.
11th pic – Mark Seidler, 21″ sauger.
Great report Joel, you sure have some awesome Saugers in that system!
When pulling crawlers do you typically tend to drift? Use the electric? Or use the kicker? Also what speed is ideal for presenting this presentation?
I’ve experimented on Lake Menomin pulling crawler rig’s in the past and can never seem to find an easy medium. If I go too slow the perch and sunfish nibble my crawler right off, if I go too fast I just seem to really call in the pesky pike!
Pete
Thanks Pete.
Most of the time, I’m using my bow mount electric motor to pull the boat at .7 to 1.1mph. Lately, the upper end of that spectrum seems to be best.
We will drift if the wind provides enough of a push but even then, I still use the bow mount electric to correct my course.
At times, we run into some panfish or sheepshead, but overall, there not to bad on Lake Wisconsin.
Nice report Joel and great job putting your clients on some good fish!
It sure has been a slow year in regard to warming water temps. Hopefully with this hot weather coming in, it will really start to heat things up and put these fish into their normal summer patterns.
A hot bite on the 1st day of summer…that’s the way to start it, Joel.
Good work Joel, and nice report. As I mentioned in one of my reports, it seems like you guys have a good avg. size over there…..esp. on saugers. Seems like a great fishery!
Joel
Great report Joel and good info. Those look like some happy customers. Way to go.
Mr. Consistent! Nice looking fish Joel
With your bottom bouncers? What kind of bottom are you pulling these baits through. Are they relating to mud, sand ,wood or just plain scattered out? Thanks Boog
Thanks guys.
Jeff – I’ve been getting fish pretty consistently on four or five different spots and they are all a little bit different. Scattered stumps laying around on a muddy bottom is the most common. One spot in particular though is primarily rock & gravel.
The most common theme amoung all spots is depth. (12-16′ deep)
Thanks guy